Rhode Island

Welcome to Rhode Island’s Rural Recruitment and Retention website! Rhode Island, part of scenic and historic New England, offers a wide variety of opportunities for health professionals. We are conveniently located near all major metropolitan areas in New England; approximately 1 hour to Boston and 3.5 hours to New York City. We invite you to click on the resources link for more information about Rhode Island, and continue to learn about the unique features the state has to offer.

With a four-season climate, Rhode Island offers a choice of rural, suburban, and urban lifestyles all within less than an hour’s drive. Rhode Island is home to 12 colleges and universities, including prestigious Brown University and the Rhode Island School of Design, enriching the cultural landscape of the state. Whether you choose to enjoy our fabulous cities or the great outdoors, Rhode Island offers the perfect home for you and your family.

Key Points

Why practice in Rhode Island

Prestigious colleges and universities- offering many opportunities through the Brown Alpert Medical School, including 10 research centers, Grand Rounds, and affiliations with 7 area hospitals.

The Office of Continuing Medical Education at Brown’s Alpert Medical School collaborates with medical school faculty, local and regional specialty societies, the Rhode Island Department of Health and other agencies to plan formal CME activities for the purpose of enhancing the quality of health care delivery and public health. Education is available for doctors on a wide range of clinical disciplines including, but not limited to Anesthesiology, Cardiology, Emergency Medicine, Infectious Disease, Internal Medicine, Neurology, Obstetrics and Gynecology, Pediatrics, Psychiatry, Public Health and Urology.

Rhode Island Medical Society is a voluntary association of physicians, physician assistants and medical students. It supports and advocates for all Rhode Island physicians in their efforts to provide the best possible care to their patients. The Society is the vehicle by which the medical community in Rhode Island meets the evolving challenges of medical practice and quality patient care. The Society represents the interests, values and needs of the medical profession and promotes enlightened public policy in the field of health care.

The Rhode Island Quality Institute (RIQI) has guided the state toward notable improvements in reducing hospital-acquired infec­tions and costs, establishing statewide capacity to fill electronic prescriptions, and adopt­ing electronic health records by the majority of practices. The organization collaborates across government, industry, provider, and consumer groups. The Rhode Island Quality Institute (RIQI) is one of 39 health care collaborative networks selected to participate in the Transforming Clinical Practice Initiative and will receive up to $8.3M over four years to provide technical assistance to help equip clinicians in Rhode Island with tools, information, and network support needed to improve quality of care, increase patients’ access to information, and spend health care dollars more wisely.

Rhode Island State Innovation Model (SIM) Test Grant Welcomes Enthusiastic Providers! Rhode Island’s history of health reform is impressive. We have been innovators, with expansion of Medicaid in the 1990’s; steadfast, in our commitment to reform markets and expand coverage using the Affordable Care Act; and bold, as we embrace transformation and payment reform within our multi-payer delivery system. Through SIM, we aim for higher quality care, better health, and smarter spending. SIM is investing in the development of our providers and empowerment of our patients to adapt to these changes. We are also working to address the social and environmental determinants affecting one’s health. SIM is investing $7.1 million in practice transformation and the development of the healthcare workforce; $2.2 million in patient engagement and facilitation tools; and $5.3 million in expanding access to increased data capacity and expertise to make it easy to tie data to quality and outcome improvements. Rhode Island SIM welcomes new providers to our state to practice in a transformed health system focused on quality, whole person care, community health, and value-based payment. For more information, please see Rhode Island’s SIM Operational Plan.

The Health Professionals Loan Repayment Program offers health education loan repayments to eligible health professionals. Loan recipients serve in a variety of disciplines including primary care, dentistry, and mental health and have made a two-year commitment to practice in medically underserved communities as identified through the HPSA process. The 2018 application cycle is now closed.

Specialties Sought

Rhode Island participates in the Physician Visa Waiver Program with a focus on increasing access to rural and urban community patients for primary care and specialists. Rhode Island accepts 30 applications per year for the J-1 Visa (Conrad 30 Waiver) Program. Applications are accepted beginning October 1 of each year. The Rhode Island J-1 Visa Waiver Program does not provide direct recruitment services for J-1 candidates.

Additional Contacts

Despite its small size and urban reputation, much of Rhode Island is rural, with a population density of 500 people per square mile or less. More than 18% of the state’s population live in rural communities.

In rural communities throughout the US, low numbers of local healthcare providers and limited public transportation create barriers to accessing healthcare. The Rhode Island State Office of Rural Health has revised the directory of services available to those individuals living in rural Rhode Island. For copies of the Finding Healthcare in Rural Rhode Island directory, please visit http://www.health.ri.gov/programs/primarycareandruralhealth/index.php.